E 




Glass _U_£.3^i_ 
Book }W ? 5 



AN 



DELIVERED JULY 5, 1819, 

. ^ In the Chamber of the House of Representatives, 

By RICHARD BLAND LEE, Esq. 



published at the keauest of the committee oe 
abkangements. 

Fellow Citizens : 

The artillery of the nation hath solemnly proclaim- 
ed, in tones of thunder, throug-hoiit the vast bounds of 
the empire, the forty -third anniversary of that day which 
gave birth to our Republic ; and we, uniting" in the uni- 
versal joy, have assembled, wiiii pious and thankful 
hearts, to commemorate the sacred epoch. Thoug-h a 
period long in the life of individual man, it is short in the 
age of nations. Short as it is, it has been filled with the 
most important events : momentous in their effects on 
human society, but pecuharly auspicious to this our fa- 
vored country. 

At this propitious time, when neither foreig-n hostility 
vexes our shores, nor internal discord divides our peo- 
ple into malignant and exasperated parties ; when bro- 
therly concord and mutual confidence, the fruit of mu- 
tual virtue and of mutual efforts to maintain our common 
freedom, and to promote our common interests, have ba- 
nished every angry passion and corroding- suspicion; 
when each citizen "reposes under his own vine and his 
own fig tree, and there is none to make him afraid ;" 
when the safety and stabiUty of our nation seem to be 

impregnably established on the foundations of Uberty a 

liberty, whose broad base is unio?i, concord, axxd jicstice ; 
at such a time it must be peculiarly gratifying" and edify- 
ing to look back on the storms by which we have been 
tossed, and on the perils from which we have escaped : 
like the happy mariner who, having gjuned his portj 



Copy 2l 

turns his delig-hted eye on the " ruffian*' billows which 
had threatened to engulph him. 

In this retrospect, it seems to be particularly proper to 
bring under our view the causes which produced the 
severance of these States from the British empire, and 
the generous motives which urged our wise and gallant 
fathers to the perilous and magnanimous act. These are 
unfolded, in terms the most sincere, the most fervid, the 
most solemn, the most dignified and sublime, in that De- 
claration which has been so emphntically read to you, and 
so forcibly impressed on your minds. From this exposi- 
tion it appears, that no ordinary injuries induced, and 
that no grovelling motives, no vain or sordid ambition, 
no lust of conquest and of spoil, tarnished the conduct of 
the founders of our present liberty. 

Born in the enjoyment of freedom, they sought only 
the continuance of that enjoyment, protected by the 
same government and laws under which they had deriv- 
ed their existence. A separation from the land of their 
fathers, who, under all vicissitudes, and through a lapse 
of ages, had kept alive the lamp of liberty, when it had 
become extinct in the rest of the world ; who had endea- 
vored, at the close of the seventeenth century, to estab- 
lish it on a durable and impregnable basis ; under whose 
auspices the goodly country which they possessed was 
peopled, protected and fostered ; who introduced into it 
British liberty and British law ; and from whom they im- 
bibed their knowledge of social rights, and the spirit to 
defend them — such a separation was not only avoided 
with solicitude, but when compelled, by a refusal of con- 
nection, by the parent country, except on terms which 
made them slaves, was attended with indescribable an- 
guish and disti'ess. 

But, in choosing between liberty and slavery, our vir- 
tuous ancestors had no hesitation. The ties of blood, the 
endearments of kindred, and the bonds of language and 
of interest, were at once broken asunder, and sacrificed 
on the altar of freedom. 

No present suffering, no oppressive privation was felt. 
Light and trivial were the taxes attempted to be imposed. 
It was not the weight of these which induced our fathers 
to unfurl the standard of resistance ; and, after exhaust- 
ing every effort at reconciliation, by the most dutiful and 
aJR'ectionate appeals to the King, tb j ParUament, and 
People of Great Britain, to assume an equal station 
amongst the nations of the world. They repelled and 
spurned the principle avowed, " that the Parhament of 
« Great Britain had^ right to bind, by their laws, the 
«' American Colonies in all cases whatsoever." A prin 
ciple which annihilated, as to them, the bulwark of Bri- 



3 

tish liberty — namely, « that taxes could only be imposed 
" by representatives, freely chosen by those who wefe 
« taxed." Yes ; not any practical evils then felt, but the 
fatal consequences which must result to their descend- 
ants, numerous future generations, from an acquiescence 
in the exercise of such a power, whose boundless sweep 
prostrated all the dearest privileg-es of a British subject,^ 
constituted, at once, the freemen" of America the abject 
vassals of a foreig-n dominion, induced their resistance. 

To prevent this humihation — to maintain the freedom 
of their country pure and uncontaminated — such, my fel- 
low citizens, was the precious object for which our fa- 
thers foug^ht ; such the holy and generous motives which 
animated them in the perilous and doubtful conflict. 

To their virtue, their fortitude; to their toils and heart- 
rending- sacrifices ; to their blood, freely and copiously 
shed, do we owe that liberty, and those multifarious bless- 
ings which we now possess. What a debt of gratitude 
have they heaped upon us ! They are in the tomb — to 
them we can never pay it. Let us, however, endeavor 
to pay it to future generations, by cherishing the memo- 
ry of their actions, by imitating their virtues, and by trans- 
mitting to our posterity, unimpaired, that liberty, which 
they so dearly purchased and bequeathed to us. Ample 
is the field of glory before us : Though to surpass we 
can never hope, let it be our unceasing effort to 
equal our fathers in virtue, in fortitude, in self- 
denial, in patriotic sacrifices — above all, in mutual for- 
bearance, sympathy and benevolence. Let, then, the 
demon faction be forever banished fr©m this land of 
freedom. Here let thought range from man to man, un- 
fettered and unrestrained. Thus let divine and fearless 
truth fix her empire amongst us. Then the only enquiry 
concerning each other will be, «is he honest, is he ca- 
pable.'* Such were our fathers-such be their sons ; and 
such happily, at this time, they are. 

I feel, my fellow citizens, as I proceed, the grandeur 
of the subject growing upon me ; and myself, at every 
step, more incapable of rendering justice to it. For who 
can speak the praises of our fathers P Who can find words 
equal to their virtue, their courage, their perseverance, 
and their wisdom ? The rich mind and brilliant fancy of 
iiim,* who, unfortunately for you and me, dechned the 
task to-day, would liave been hardly equal to it. My fee- 
ble strength sinks under the weight. 

When we look at the relative power of the contend- 
ing parties ; the American Colonies feeble, poor, without 
arms as well as without money; divided into thirteen separ- 

'JNIr. Wirt, Attorney General. 



• 4 

ate governments ; with a population spread thinly over a 
boundless territory ; ignorant of each other ; unassimi- 
lated in manners; unconnected by interests or common 
pursuits; and without a common head to direct their ef- 
forts — when we compare such a people, with the mighty 
monarchy of Britain, just triumphant over the two great- 
est potentates of Europe, and whose vast empire embrac- 
ed under its dominion parts of the four quarters of the 
globe ; with a government full of resources, in science, 
in men, in money, and in arms ; with numerous disciplin- 
ed armies and powerful fleets at its disposal ; what forti- 
tude must it have required in our fathers, calmly to 
have looked such danger in the face, boldly to have 
thrown the gauntlet of defiance, and risked both life and 
liberty on the issue. It is an act of firm, deliberate cou- 
rage, unparalleled in the history of man. 

Here we must not pass by thy capital, Massachusetts. 
Boston stands foremost in the glorious struggle : she 
first broke the oppressor's rod — she was the first victim 
of his ire : she led the way ; her firm and patient virtue 
first rallied around her the sons of Massachusetts — ^then 
spread from place to place her generous ardor, till the 
thirteen colonies made her's the common cause. What 
praise is due to her Adamses, her Hancocks, her Quincys, 
her Otises, and an host of wise and virtuous citizens, who 
then marched foremost in the path of duty and of danger ! 

Bold as was this act, the issue of the long and arduous 
war which followed, proved that our fathers had neither 
miscalculated the resources of their country, nor the vir- 
tue of their fellow-citizens. Under the conduct of a mi- 
litary chief, pure as the cause which he defended, final 
success crowned the generous effort. 

If time permitted, it would be a pleasing task to re- 
count the appalling dangers which were overcome — the 
unequalled privations which were endured — the noble 
sacrifices of blood and treasure which were made, and the 
alternate defeats and victories which fill that eventful pe- 
riod when America fought for liberty and Britain for do- 
minion. But these are themes which belong to the 
splendid and faithful historian and to the lofty bard. Let 
it suffice for the present, that the American commander, 
displaying courage unshaken by disaster — patience not 
to be subdued — caution not to be surprised — and enter- 
prize which astounded his enemy, brought, after an eight 
years' war, to submission the legions of Britam, till then 
victorious o'er the world, and secured to these United 
States their present rank among the nations of the earth. 

It is dae,however,to truth & candor, to say, that the op- 
portune and efficient aid of the King of France, in men Sc 
money, contributed not a little to our success. Though 



the governing" motive of this assistance may not have been 
so much a desire to establish our liberty as to humble and to 
cripple a powerful and dominant rival, it was not the less 
useful & important to us,& deserves our lasting" gratitude. 

But, were our dangei-s past when war had ceased, and 
the independence of these states was acknowledged ? 

What had we left? A wasted and dilapidated country, 
& every resource exhausted. Thirteen independent sover- 
eignties,eacli supreme within the limits of its territorial ju- 
risdiction, exercised the powers of government. A Con- 
gre.'s, it is true, of the confederated states, existed. It 
was nominally clothed with the authority of managing 
the national concerns, both foreign and domestic ; but 
the means necessary were to be voluntarily furnished by 
the states, on the requisitions of that body. Congress did 
its duty ; it called upon the states for their contributions 
to the common fund.. The states were deaf to those calls. 
The danger having ceased, a torpid apathy succeeded to 
exertion, to duty and honor. The government of the 
United States could, therefore, scarcely obtain on its own 
credit the means of meeting its most urgent current ex- 
pences, and it was wholly unable to pay the debts of the 
nation, even the most sacred — that to their brave and suf- 
fering army ; which, goaded to despair by the suppo- 
sed neglect and ingratitude of their country, in whose 
service they had met every peril, endured nakedness and 
hunger, and wasted property aud health, discovered 
symptoms of mutiny, even in the camp, and under the 
eye of Washington. But the paternal voice of their be- 
loved chief, always heard with reverence, in a moment 
recalled their wavering fidelity to the standard of honor 
and patriotism. They again reposed on the gratitude of 
their country. Congress, sensible of their just claims, 
urged with zeal by the commander in chief, but unable, 
from the feeble texture of their powers, to afford imme- 
diate relief, could only pledge the nation to a future and 
ample remuneration The brave defenders of their coun- 
try, imitating the great example of their leader, and gui- 
ded by his counsels, accepted from an impoverished peo- 
ple a promise, in lieu of the substantial rewards to which 
they were entitled, and instantly sunk the soldier in the 
citizen. 

This danger overcome, the army disbanded, and the 
civil authorities of the nation left in the uncontrolled 
possession of all the powers to provide for the general 
welfare, Washington, having repaired to Congress and 
restored to the hands of the nation (its liberty establish- 
ed) the sword with which he liad been entrusted for its 
protection, again sought, after an eight years' absence, 
the shades of his beloved retreat. 
1* 



6 

But, were our dangers yet passed? or rather did they 
not thicken with encreasing gloom ? 

The states neglected their federal duties. The faith 
of the nation was violated to their faithful army and oth- 
er public creditors. The states treated with contempt 
the authority of Congress : the states, between them- 
selves, made conflicting regulations, generating jealousy, 
distrust, and hate. Nay, a general dissolution of the ties 
of moral obligation pervaded the society, and even laws 
were passed prostrating the rights of property . The good 
and the wise, throughout the nation, mourned this pro- 
gress to evil, and began to fear that a revolution, so glo- 
riously achieved, might prove a curse instead of a bles- 
sing to their country. Amid this gloom, in Virginia, un- 
der the auspices of Madison, who then laid the founda- 
tions of an imperishable fame, and established the most 
sohd claims to his country's gratitude, the first attempt 
was made to arrest these accumulating ills. 

A convention of deputies from the several states was 
proposed, to digest some uniform system for the regula- 
tion of commerce. Deputies only from five states met. 
Being too few in number to execute the object of their 
meeting, and finding moreover the disease too extensive 
and too radical to admit of a cure within the compass of 
their powers, they wisely determined to recommend to 
the nation the appointment of a general convention to 
take into consideration the deplorable condition of their 
country, and to provide a complete and durable remedy. 
Fortunately for America,this recommendation was gener- 
ally adopted. This august assembly of statesmen met, and 
Washington presided. From their wisdom emanated the 
constitution which now rules these United States. Wise- 
ly as it was framed for the common good, a difficult task 
remained — its adoption by the states. State pride, state 
jealousy, combining with every wayward human passion, 
almost stifled in its birth this last hope of patriotism. 
Even in Virginia, the great author of the measure, the 
people were nearly divided. But a kind Providence or- 
dained that wisdom should prevail — that virtue and order 
should triumph ; and this stupendous fabric of human li- 
berty was, I trust, immoveably established. 

But vain was the adoption of the constitution, unless 
the nation derived from a wise and firm administration a 
rehef from the evils which had so long degraded and op- 
pressed it. 

But where was to be found that weight of character, 
that popularity built on the most faithful, substantial, 
and eminent services — that patriotism, that purity, that 
awe and majesty of virtue — that sage foresight & solid wis- 
dom taught in the schools of trial, adversity, and danger. 



sufficient to control the tempest of conflicting passions, 
which threatened to annihilate the very elements of so- 
cial order ? Where were these to be found but in the 
firm, the pious Washington ? Those who condemned 
fortunately united in opinion with those who approved the 
constitution, that he alone was capable of giving to the 
yet untried system a safe and salutary impulse. We, 
therefore, find him called, by the unanimous voice of 
three millions of people, to fill the station of first func- 
tionary of the regenerated Repubhc. How could he re- 
ject a summons so solemn, an appeal so impressive. Al- 
ready, too, had anarchy and wild misrule* reared their hi- 
deous banner, and to the northern section of our states 
threatened desolation and ruin. However anxious for 
peaceful retirement, in a crisis so difficult and dangerous, 
it was impossible for Washington, without " attainting 
the lustre of his former name," to refuse his hand to a dis- 
tressed and falling country. Duty therefore vanquishmg 
every other feeling, he fled to her rescue. 

Repairing to the station to which he had been called 
in a manner so sacred and soforcible ; summoning around 
his person the courage, the wisdom, and the virtue of 
the nation, and strenuously assisted in the legislative 
councils by the faithful representatives of the people ; 
under his guidance order, as it were, by magic, rose out 
of chaos — impartial justice held again her even scales — 
confidence revived the drooping spirit of desponding in- 
dustry — " yellow harvests shed again their mellow lustre 
o'er our fields" — commerce filled the ocean with its 
swelling sails — and the hum of happy labor was heard in 
every busy haunt. The war-worn soldier, too, with eyes 
beaming with joy, saw at length that liberty for which he 
fought and bled, securely fixed, and felt in every pore 
his country's gratitude cheering his decHning age. Under 
thy plastic hand, immortal Hamilton, a renovated credit 
restored to health, to strength, to power, a sinking peo- 
ple. Foreign nations beheld with deep and silent won- 
der a change so sudden and so grand. Abroad, respect 
succeeded to contempt ; at home, wealth to poverty, 
power to weakness, happiness to misery, confidence to 
distrust. Nor was there a corner of tliese U. States so 
remote and inaccessible, to which the benign rays of the 
government did not extend its vivifying influence. 

Some may forget, but we cannot all forget, the man 
to whom most, next to one, we owed tJiese blessings. 
Though cut off by too severe a doom, in the meridian of 
his days, in the splendor ©f his virtues, ft-om family, 
friends, and country, he yet had lived enough for fame. 

*Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts. 



8 

In war, taught by Washington the way to glory, on the 
perilous edge or' battle he stood, the intrepid defender of 
his country's rights ; in peace, a statesman firm and in- 
corrupt, he planned with zeal, with courage, and with 
wisdom, her happiness and glory.-}- 

But hardly was our political bark moored in port, 
escaped from the tempests by which it had been bufteted 
and almost foundered, when the French revolution, like 
a vast volcano, began to forebode, by distant and hollow 
rumblings, that dreadful explosion which we have seen 
shake Europe to its foundations, and desolate the fairest 
countries with its destructive lava. Even our remote 
and peaceful shores felt the shock. Under the garb 
of Hberty, it approached us ; liberty dear to the Ame- 
rican heart. The fair outside concealed the rotten- 
ness within ; but it could not deceive the Argus eyes of 
Washington. While others hailed the Revolution as a 
new Saturnian age returned, his penetrating eye found 
in it no stable base whereon to build the temple of liber- 
ty. The prostrate power of the Bourbons was succeeded 
by an impious hcentiousness more terrible than despot- 
ism itself. Through havoc, blood, and rapine, each suc- 
cessive party waded to power. Religion, morality, jus- 
tice, virtue, honor, innocence, learning, and patriotism, 
were whelmed under one common ruin. The nations of 
Europe rose to check the mighty mischief. Even Bri- 
tons, in their sea girt isles, trembled for their safety, and 
prepared to meet in arms the stern defiance of their 
fierce antagonist. Then, America, thy Washington lived 
— thy faithful Polinurus stood at the helm. With an eagle 
eye, he descried at distance the coming storm, and pre- 
pared his feeble bark to meet its utmost rage. Explor- 
ing in his capacious mind the path which justice, honor, 
duty, interest, safety, liberty required, with firm, unyield- 
ing fortitude, he took his course. He declared our na- 
tion neutral in the dreadful oonflict. 

Disappointed in the object of his mission, by this act, 
a daring Minister of France, mistaking our ardent wishes 
that she might find the way to stable liberty, and taste 
like us the sweets of free well ordered government, for a 
zeal to fight her battles and avenge her wrongs, with bold 
audacious insolence strove,within the limits of our territory, 
to exercise a sovereign power, and to sever from the gov- 
ernment the people. Little did he know the men, the 

t Alexander Hamilton, then Colonel and Aid-de-Camp to 
General Washington, stormed and took one of the enemy's 
main redoubts at the siege of York, previous to the surrender 
ofCornwallis. His bravery on this and eveiy other proper mi- 
litary occasion, and his conduct as first Secretary of tne Treasu- 
ry, is particularly alluded to in the text. 



9 

,^overnment,or the people whom thus he outraged. Then 
Jefferson, second to his Chief, shone with splendid and un- 
fading-lustre; witlifirmness, with dignity, with all thepower 
of eloquence and majesty of reason, he repelled the base 
.assault, and maintained his country's character and rights. 
The nation too, proud of its liberty, frowned indignant 
on the attempt, and France, appalled, recalled the of- 
fending minister. 

But our difficulties were not with France alone ; the 
animosity against Britain, excited by our revolutionary 
conflict, had not entu-ely subsided. The incomplete ex- 
ecution of the treaty of peace on their part, founded, as 
alleged by them, on an infraction by us, had kept alive 
the hostile feelings generated by the sufferings of the 
war. There were, therefore, not a few who panted for 
the opportunity of revenge : there was also a numerous 
body who sincerely beUeved the cause of France, the 
cause of liberty and mankind. Nor were there wantmg 
those cormorants who in every age and in every country 
feed on the agitations and convulsions of society as their 
natural aliment. When to these causes was added a fla- 
grant and violent attack on our commerce, by the Bri- 
tish Orders m Council of November, '93 — it was not won- 
derful that the most ardent desire for war with that na- 
tion burst forth at once. Washington beheld with 
deep concern, the tendency of so many causes to 
produce a second conflict with a people whose maritime 
means and pecuniary resources enabled them, though 
they could not conquer, to annoy and cripple our pow- 
er, and to check our progress to prosperity and strength, 
to happiness and security. All the resources of his migh- 
ty mind were therefore employed to prevent so destruct* 
ive a contest. 

The British government having hearkened to his re- 
monstrances, and declared that their orders were neither 
intended as an insult or injury to our country, but were 
merely directed against the enemy, having promised, if 
any improper procedure had taken place in the ex* 
ecution of them, that it should be corrected ; in fine, hav- 
ing revoked them, he felt it his duty, under such cir- 
cumstances, to arrest certain measures under discussion 
before the legislature, the adoption of which might ine- 
vitably lead to war, by the appointment of a special em- 
bassy, not only to demand retribution tor recent injuries, 
but to propose a complete and final adjustment of all 
matters in controversy. 

John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States, distin- 
guished for his patriotism, his firmness, his wisdom, his 
eminent services, and the unblemished purity of his pri- 
vate life, was wisely selected for this weighty and solemn 
mission. 



10 

He happily succeeded, by an able negotiation, in set- 
tling- by treaty, on fair, just, and reasonable terms, all the 
material points in dispute between the two countries. — 
Our western posts, so long" detained, were surrendered ; 
compensation to our merchants was secured in all cases 
of unlawful capture, and our commerce was placed on a 
safe and advantag-eous footing". This treaty was submit- 
ted to the Senate who advised a ratification. 

Notwithstanding this solemn approbation, the fautors 
of war still attempted to control the decision of the Pre- 
sident. Resolves, addresses — remonstrances innumerable" 
were presented to the Chief Magistrate. Like a rock 
he stood unmoved amid the agitated billows. Con- 
sulting only his duty, and looking steadfastly to the safe- 
ty and interests of his country, after deep and mature 
deliberation, became his awful sanction. The nation was 
satisfied, approved, and obeyed. 

Here, my fellow-citizens, let us pause for a moment 
& look back with pious wonder & gratitude, on the dark 
& lowering tempests which enveloped us, & on the awful 
and tottering precipices on which we stood, and from 
which we have escaped unhurt. We have seen the pro- 
gress of the French revolution; we have seen its epheme- 
ral governments built on the phantom, not the reality of 
liberty, and evanescent as dreams, though stamed with 
blood and rapine, pass away. We have seen a mighty 
military despotism rise on their ruins, incorporating in 
one wide domain friends, allies, republics, princedoms, 
kingdoms, hierarchies — and we have seen this stupend- 
ous fabric crumble into dust. 

What might not now have been our miserable condition, 
if the wisdom & firmness of Wasliington had not secured 
our peace and established our neutrality. If other coun- 
sels had then prevailed, instead now of boasting of our 
happy constitution, instead of enjoying our present free- 
dom, instead of the immense empire which we govern, 
like many other states, we might have been erased from 
the list of nations. 

It would be pleasing to dwell on the other acts of that 
great man's administi ation, but time will not permit ; a 
volume would not do justice to them. For what did he 
neglect to do which could give stability to our Union, vi- 
gor to our government, permanence to our Hberty, pros- 
perity to our people,and safety to our empire? Nor ought 
praise to be withheld from those wise and virtuous Le- 
gislators, his firm coadjutors, wlio gave to him, through 
all those eventful scenes, their cordial and vigorous sup- 
port. Nor from the citizens of our republic, who were 
ever found faithful and obedient to the govern fcnt 
of their choice. One measure, however, likely to have 



11 

the most important and permanent effects on the cha- 
racter and safety of our nation, which was adopted dur- 
ing- that period, I cannot pass by : — the commence- 
ment of that navy, so wisely nurtured and extended un- 
der President Adams*, which we have found so useful 
since — and the effulg-nce of whose glory has irradiated 
the most distant seas,and which will prove,intime to come, 
our proud, our safe and cheap defence against territo- 
rial aggression, and commercial injury and fraud. Here 
pardon me if I name one other measure then adopted, of 
no trivial consequence to the durability of our union, the 
convenience of our citizens, and to the safe and free ad- 
ministration of our national constitution in all its parts, 
legislative, executive, and judiciary ; namely, the estab- 
lishment of the permanent seat of our government in a 
district subject to the exclusive controul and legislation of 
the Congress of the United States, and in a position sa- 
lubrious, central, equally accessible to the north and to 
the south, to the east and to the west, and magnificent as 
the great empire of which it is the head. Here, under 
the watchful protection of its paternal government, may 
aU the generous social virtues of our land concentrate 
themselves. Here may science and every useful art fix 
their abode. Here may justice, attended by mercy, es- 
tablish her awful scales ; and here, above all, may pure 
and undefiled religion erect her holy altars. So that to 
all future generations, the City ©f Washington shall re- 
main not only the monument of our nation's gratitude to 
the founder of our liberty, but a perpetual memorial of 
his patriotism, his virtue, and his piety, and an ever-en- 
during pattern of all that is excellent, amiable, and bene- 
volent in man. Thus, may « peace be always within her 
walls, and plenteousness within her palaces." 
It was the happiness of Washington, in retiring from 

*John Adams, one of the first promoters of resistance to 
the oppressions of the British government in Boston, and a 
member fi'om Massachusetts of the first Congresses, of course 
of that which declared our Independence — afterwards our Min- 
ister at the Hague— where he was very useful to the public 
cause, by his negotiations with the United Provinces : and 
had the honor afterwards, in conjunction with Franklin and 
Jay, to conclude the treaty of peace with Great Britain, which 
established our Independence. He was then appointed the first 
Minister to the court of Great Britain, from which post retir- 
ing, he was called to fill the ofiice of first Vice President of the 
United States for eight years, and afterwards succeeded Gene- 
ral Washington in the Pi'esidency. In all which stations he 
exhibited himself the wise statesman, the steady, virtuous, uude- 
viating patriot and firm Magistrate, the first glory acquired 
by oui* navy was under his administr ation. 



12 

office, to leave his country under a free, wise, and eii- 
erg"etic government, in full organization and operation ; 
at peace with foreign nations and with the Indian tribes; 
prosperous at home, and respected abroad ; and, to all 
future Presidents, his own great example for their imita- 
tion. 

Here am I tempted but my feeble pinions cannot 

soar to the lofty pmnacle of his greatness. Our shield 
in war, our guide and ornament in peace, his own great 
actions must proclaim his worth. 

Not till this epoch were our dangers passed ; not till then 
was our liberty secure and our empire confirmed — af'er 
twenty years of toil, of blood, of intestine agitation and 
discord, and foreign danger. 

If during that period the fastidious and hypercritical 
politician finds any measures adopted to rescue our country 
from its degraded condition, not altogether such ashemay 
approve, let his generosity impute them to the intrinsic 
difficulties of the times — not to the want of wisdom or 
virtue in the actors : let him be rather thankful for the 
good which they established and transmitted to us ; let 
him not exact from erring mortals a perfection which be- 
longs alone to Deity. 

It is from this epoch we must date that unprecedented 
course of prosperity, which, in the short lapse of twenty 
two years, has raised our country to its present stupen- 
dous strength, grandeur, and importance ; furnishing a 
phenomenon in human existence, the like of which can- 
not be found on the records of time. 

It is due to the successors of Washington, that, through 
the most tempestuous scenes, when the governments of 
the civihzed world were convulsed to their deepest foun- 
dations ; when the ancient monuments of justice were 
overturned; when those sacred laws which aforetime 
had stayed the devastations of war and bridled his fury 
were no longer respected ; the praise is due to them, in 
times like these — their fellow-citizens, too, torn into acri- 
monious parties, and divided in opinion — that, with trivial 
interruptions and transient inconveniences, they pre- 
served, for fourteen years, the peace of their country, 
and continued the current of its prosperity. 

However our citizens may have been divided, how- 
ever various may have been their opinions concerning 
other measures of the administration of our tliird Presi- 
dent, there is one act of vital national importance, which 
must command the unqualified approbation of all — the 
prompt, the bloodless, the peaceable acquisition of Lou- 
isiana: an empire in itself, embracing the finest climates, 
the most fertile lands, and majestic rivers of the world, 
and affording a safe outlet to the ocean for the products 



^i 



IS 

of the immetise reg-ions of the west. This act alone, if 
none other existed, would be sufficient to immortalize 
the name of Jefferson. 

fiut when he retired, our internal agitations and exter- 
nal difficulties had not ceased. The two mighty belli- 
gerents of Europe, France and Britain, seem to have de- 
termined, by the multipUed wrong-s committed on our 
commerce, on the pretext of retaUating- each the inju- 
ries of his enemy, to force us from our neutraUty. The 
war with Britain, which closed this state of tilings, is too 
recent to be forgotten by you. However tiie opinions 
of our people may have been divided as to the propriety 
of that war, declared by our rulers ; or whether, in reali- 
ty, it was necessary or unnecessary, avoidable or una- 
voidable, it having been the authorized and deUberate 
act of the representatives of the nation, it was the duty 
of aU to submit and to obey. 

Though by the late peace we gained an express de- 
rehction by Britain of none of the most important prin- 
ciples contended for by her, we have as yet been reliev- 
ed from the application of tliem to our injury and annoy- 
ance, and soon shall be too powerful to fear any. 

But it has not been without other consequences, in va- 
lue more than equid to the cost and sacrifices which at- 
tended it. 

It has, above all, demonstrated the fidelity of all de- 
scriptions of our people to their government. However 
divided, in the exercise of that precious privilege of free- 
men — the right of examining and judging of the conduct 
of their rulers, as to the policy of that war — they 
united heart and hand in bringing it to a speedy and ho- 
norable close. Party distinctions were instantly merged 
in the danger of our country. The only contest between 
individuals was, who should most faithfully serve it, who 
most vahantly fight its battles ! All were found faithful ; 
al? were found brave.* To this cause, more than any 
ether, do we owe the present happy extinction of long 
continued party animosities : and blasted be the tongue 
M'hich shall attempt to excite again the ire of citizen a- 
gainst citizen, of brother against brother. 

It has also had the most happy effect in destroying 
local jealousies and sectional antipathies, and in generat- 
ing, in heu thereof, an enlarged generous national feel- 
ing, not less important to the strength and character of 
our government than to the harmony and prosperity of 
our people. 

* The Orator was sensible that there were a few exceptions ; 
but they were so few, and of so little moment, that he widied 
them rather to be forgotten than remembered. 



14 

it also develc^ed th^ resources and military cha- 
2'acter of our country. The most potent nation of the 
earth was foiled both on the land and on the water. 
Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain, and the expanded 
ocean, attest the prowess of our navy; while Chippawa, 
Bridgewater, Fort Erie, Plattfsburg-, Baltimore, the 
Thames, and Orleans, will remain eternal monuments of 
the bravery of our army. We lost none of our country ; 
but gained from the hostile Indians, the allies of our 
enemy, cessions of land more than sufficient to defray 
the expenses of the war. So that it ended without cos*^. 
Thus President Madison had the happiness, in retiring 
from office, of leaving his country at peace abroad, unit- 
ed at home, with increased character, and irradiated 
with glory. In this state of things, our present Chief 
Magistrate succeeded ta the Presidency : and we have 
experienced little interruption to the even and tranquil 
current of our affairs^ 

His administration, however, will be conspicuously dis- 
tinguished in all future time, by the important treaty 
with Spain, recently concluded by him, which secures 
to our citizens indemnification for the spoliations com- 
mitted on our commerce, under her authority or with 
her permission, the cessixjn of East and West Florida, 
and the satisfactory establishment of the boundaries of 
Louisiana. 

This treaty, when ratified by Spain, will settle all the 
Important points heretofore in contestation between the 
United States and the governments of Europe : and will 
give an extent and arrondisement to our empire suffi- 
cient to satisfy the most grasping ambition, and to re~ 
quire ages of wise legislation to fill with improvement 
civihzation, and liberty. 

By this treaty, the United States will be happily re- 
lieved from all territorial collisions with the European 
powers, and the prospect of an interminable peace opens 
to our view. And thus, it may be the rare and happy 
fortune of President Monroe, at last, like Augustus Cae- 
sar, to close the doors of the Temple of Janus.f 

What an opportunity is now afforded for a fair experi- 
ment of our free and philanthropic institutions ! 
What an expansion may we not now give to the freedom 
and happiness of mankind, and to the pure and benefi- 
cent precepts of our meek, our holy, and evangelical 
faith! 

Most weighty and responsible duties, therefore, de- 
volve on our legislators from this period. We have al- 



t The Temple of Janws was but twice shut from the time of 
liomHius to Augustus Cjesar, to wit, during Numa's peaceable 
leign and after the first Punie war. 



15 

ready an empire equal in extent to that of imperial Rome 
— but, like Rome, we have not waded throug-h oceans of 
blood, we have not ravaged a world, we liave not im- 
molated countless millions of human victims, to obtain it. 
Ours IS a peaceful and a bloodless conquest. Their art 
of gfovernment was war, their glory— blood. Our art of 
government is peace, our glory humanity. 

Tlius, possessing an empire so extensive, embracing 
the finest climates of the northern hemisphere, capable 
of producing every article necessary for the comfort, the 
convenience, and sustenance of man, we shall need little 
or no connection, even in commerce, with foreign coun- 
tries, if we improve the vast resources of our own. Such 
improvement, and the commercial intercourse between 
the agricultural and manufacturing parts of it, would 
alone give all the necessary and most profitable employ- 
ment to our pecuniary capital and to our navigation. 
And is it not worthy of consideration, whether the di- 
minution of our intercourse with foreign nations, whose 
modes and notions of government, and whose manners 
are so different from our own, would not have the most 
salutary tendency in preserving untainted the industrious 
habits, and the pure and manly virtues of our citizens, 
and thereby perpetuating to the most remote future 
ages the happiness and freedom which we possess. Our 
present sufferings, from the too avid pursuit of foreign 
commerce, ought to be a warning to us. But this is a 
subject which belongs to those wise and virtuous men to 
whom our country has entrusted its destinies. Like the 
unsleeping vestal, they will watch over the sacred fire 
of our liberty. They will never suffer it to be extin- 
guished. And, above all, will cherish, with unceasing 
care, the bland, the chaste, the innocent, temperate and 
uncloying blessings conferred by its beneficent warmth, in 
preference to wealth, to power, and to the evanescent 
glare of wild ambition's glory. — 

" Oh, yet happiest, if we seek no happier state, 

" And know te know no more." 



